Caught in the Gravity Well of a Book Release

Last week I announced my decision to self-publish The Curse Merchant, and immediately began the planning process. What I didn’t realize, as this is my first time at all of this, was how fast everything would happen when it started happening.

And sweet Jesus, things are happening!

Thus far I have secured the services of three separate professionals: an editor, an artist, and a publicist. Remarkably, I haven’t driven any of them to drink yet (that I know of). As of this morning, I have in my possession:

professional cover art

the final edit notes for the manuscript

a preliminary schedule for the book release

Why do I mention all of this? Mostly to excite you and generally whet your appetite. (Please note, one does not “wet” one’s appetite… one may wet one’s whistle while whetting one’s appetite, but only if one is trapped in an alternate universe dominated by Suess parlance.) But also, I find it remarkable how quickly things fall into place.

If one has a plan, that is. And medication.

That’s enough Zoloft for this edit, I think. And a few Levitra, because you never know…

It seems my notorious propensity for left-brained pre-writing extends to marketing. I have spreadsheets, lists, and lots and lots of folders. I will not comment on the existence of voodoo dolls or tiny darts with the Amazon logo on their flights.

I’ll be making a formal release announcement soon, and I’ve got some fun stuff planned in conjunction… so stay tuned. I’m on the search for advance reviewers. If you’re a book blogger/reviewer with an interest in urban fantasy and paranormal thrillers, I’d like to put a copy of Curse Merchant in your hands! Just rattle my chain…

In other news, Top Secret Manuscript ™ just broke 25K words, and it’s really starting to reach that point where the action is sucking me in. Seems I’m trapped between two gravity wells of creative projects these days.

In other other news, another one of my beers (the Munich Dunkel, for those of you playing along at home) took first place in a local competition, so it’s been quite a flush week!